Witch
Witches are humans that are born with the ability to use magick. Performing magick In childhood, witches may exhibit random bursts of magick, which they learn to control as they mature. Most children have a basic grasp on their magickal powers by the age of seven. To perform controlled magick, almost all witches need to use a wand, although the skill of hand magick may also be mastered. Heredity Magickal ability is an inherited trait usually passed from parent to child. Witches may be classified by blood status. Blood witches are born to two witches and at the very least, four magickal grandparents. Despite claims to the contrary, every witch alive in the 21st century had at least one Typical ancestor. Scant witches are distantly descended from a Dud who married into a Typical family. The magickal gene resurfaces seven generations later when the family has lost all other traces of its magickal heritage. Special abilities All Witches * All witches have the ability to use magick spells, brew potions, and use runes and sigils. * All witches have the ability to see through glamours, usually maturing the ability with age. Sub-types * Changeling: Witches may have the inborn ability to change their physical appearance at will, making them Changelings. This ability is usually found amongst descendants of the Fonvaughn coven. One in a thousand witches will be a Changeling. * Ailuromouth (cat), Avimouth (bird), Equinomouth (horse), Ophiomouth (snake), etc: Witches may have the inborn ability to speak to a certain animal, usually one they identify with on a deep level. This ability is usually found amongst descendants of the Brighteye coven. One in ten thousand witches will be able to talk to animals. * Shape-shifting: Witches may have the inborn ability to shape-shift into a variety of animals. This ability is usually found amongst descendants of the Griffbyrne coven. One in ten thousand witches will be a shape-shifter. * Telepathy: Witches may have the inborn ability to talk using only touch, or send witch messages to other witches. This ability is usually found amongst descendants of the Heartbane coven. One in a thousand witches will be a telepath. * The Sight: Witches may have the inborn ability to see the future, usually in the form of dreams or visions. This ability also allows one to make prophecies. It is usually found amongst descendants of the Willowwand coven. One in a thousand witches will have the Sight. Society As set forth in the International Secrecy Mandate of 1693, witches maintain a society entirely separate from Typical society, with their own culture and traditions. Witches populate areas all over the globe. The population of witches is estimated to be one-tenth of the entire human population at one time. Witches may live together in small and obscure villages, glamoured and hidden from the prying eyes of Typicals. Others live in Typical towns with high populations of witches, such as Calumet, Boston or New Orleans. Most witches maintain little to no contact with Typicals and find them strange and unpleasant. They are somewhat ignorant to the rest of the world, and many witches would be mystified by the workings of most Typical devices, such as telephones and computers. Because of their reliance on magick rather than technology, witches have been known to live in a strange mixture of the past and the present. It is not unusual to see witches wearing clothes from a period long gone, making them stand out in a crowd of Typicals. Some witches are progressive, such as the Wrayburn family, and live in Typical-built houses with electricity and modern technologies. Others, such as the Highmore family, live in old family estates and other old houses, usually cut off from the rest of the world. These conservative families do not use electricity or other Typical technology, and instead rely completely on magick. These families also tend to hold Atypical beliefs, and will deny any association with Typicals whatsoever. Despite their science and living conditions being almost medieval on the whole, witches are, ironically, probably healthier than Typicals, presumably due to their inherent magick protecting them from most mundane diseases. As such, the life expectancy of American witches ranges from 135-150 years on average, though some have lived to 200. Christóbal Castaneda also attributes this to the witches' healthier diets, which rely on natural foods. Category:Magick Category:Witches